general order 11-27 staffing and telestaff operations 09

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, MARYLAND FIRE/EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDER

Division 11 – Personnel Management

Chapter 27 –Staffing and Telestaff Operations

Effective Date – September 23, 2019

Issue Date – September 19, 2019

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This General Order establishes the procedures and rules governing career staffing within the

Fire/Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Department. The provisions outlined facilitate

adequate staffing, accountability, essential management practices and employee responsibilities.

All personnel working within the Department will be required to adhere to the policies and

procedures set forth within this General Order.

DEFINITIONS

Audit – An official financial review conducted to ensure compliance with current policies and

procedures related to staffing, compensation and payroll accountability.

Auxiliary Staffing Officers (ASO) – Personnel qualified to make staffing adjustments to

specific schedules within the Telestaff System. This includes the Special Events Coordinator

and the Risk Management office.

Detail – Employee’s temporary work assignment based on the staffing needs of the Department.

Department Operations Center (DOC) – Coordinates emergency operations during

jurisdictional major events or when natural or man-made occurrences require the activation

of special units and/or changes in dispatch procedures.

Duty Chief – Career Assistant Fire Chief or designee in charge of the emergency operations.

ETS – Electronic Time Sheet program.

Fatigue Rule – When an employee has worked 36 consecutive hours, they shall be off-duty for

eight (8) hours within the 44-hour time period.

Finalization of Shift – For payroll purposes, employee staffing records shall be locked at

0900 hours for the previous day’s shift. Any changes after records are locked can only be

made by supervisors at the rank of Battalion Chief and above.

Finalization of Pay Period – For payroll purposes, staffing records shall be locked at 0900

hours on Sunday after the last day of the pay period. Any changes after records are locked

will have to be approved via the chain-of-command and made by the Staffing Office or

Fiscal Affairs.

POLICY

General Order Number: 11-27 Effective Date: September 23, 2019

Division: Personnel Management

Chapter: Staffing and Telestaff Operations

By Order of the Fire Chief: Benjamin M. Barksdale Issue Date: September 19, 2019






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Holdover – A form of mandated overtime that occurs when personnel are required to remain at

work after the completion of their scheduled shift.

Mandatory Call Back – When an employee is ordered back into work to fill an operational

position required to maintain service delivery.

Mandatory Callback Roster (MCR) – Dynamic roster used by the Staffing Officer to

determine the next eligible employee to call back.

Partial Period – Any overtime work period that is less than six (6) hours will not be

calculated for pick list ranking purposes. These hours do count toward the fatigue rule

calculations.

Pending Code – Timesheet code entered into Telestaff by an employee requiring verification

and approval by the employee’s supervisor.

Pick List – A list generated by Telestaff that displays all personnel that have entered their

availability for given timeframes to work overtime to fill a minimum staffed position. This is a

dynamic list with frequent changes due to specialty, last overtime worked and recent sign ups.

Random Opportunity Number – Created by the Staffing Administrator using a computer

program in the presence of a Union representative.

Relief Personnel – Operational employees not assigned to permanent positions that are

utilized to fill various day-to-day vacancies. This could be officers, firefighters, and/or

paramedics.

Roster View – Schedules within the Telestaff system based on office and/or station assignments.

Access to these schedules is limited based on parameters such as rank, assignments or other

levels of authority.

Scheduled Leave – Leave that is scheduled and approved before 0700 hours four (4) days in

advance of the requested date. It may include, but not be limited to: sick leave, annual leave,

administrative leave, Personal, Compensatory Leave, FMLA leave, IOJ/pending, bereavement

leave, etc.

SharePoint Record System – Portal located on the County’s intranet system that serves as a

historic archive for data relating to employee profiles in Telestaff. This includes EMS

expiration, driver’s license and various other specialty codes that determine an employee’s

qualifications to function within a work assignment.

Special Deployable Events – A pre-determined mode within Telestaff used during

jurisdictional major events, or when natural or man-made occurrences require the activation

of special units and/or changes in dispatch procedures.






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I Telestaff – Automated public safety scheduling software utilized to optimize the scheduling and

deployment of personnel throughout the Department.

Telestaff Team – Consists of the IMD Manager, Telestaff Administrator, and Staffing

Officers. This group works to ensure appropriate applications, processes, hardware and other

resources are operating in a manner conducive to the successful management of data and end

user functioning ability. The Telestaff Team shall recommend policies and procedures in line

with the goals of the Department.

Unscheduled Leave – Leave requested within 96 hours of the scheduled shift. It may

include, but not be limited to: sick leave, emergency annual leave, IOJ/pending, bereavement

leave, etc.

Vacation Leave – Scheduled leave that is granted to employees through a semi-annual BID

process.

PROCEDURES / RESPONSIBILITIES

I. General Provisions

A. The administration and structure of payroll and staffing databases is the function of

the Telestaff Team under the guidance of the Emergency Services Command (ESC)

Deputy Fire Chief.

B. For accountability and safety, Telestaff shall reflect the most accurate work schedule

and assignment of all personnel.

C. All commands are responsible to ensure accurate and timely posting of work

schedules to Telestaff.

D. This policy will establish a consistent and equitable method pertaining to the staffing

of both operational and non-operational positions within the Department.

II. Responsibilities

A. Staffing Officers

1. Function under the direction of the on-duty Duty Chief.

2. Provide current operational resources levels via email to the Duty Chief and

Battalion Chiefs.

3. Provide the ESC Deputy and ESC Assistant Fire Chiefs with daily overtime

cost reporting as a tool for their decision-making process.

4. Identify available detail personnel and staffing vacancies along with any

pertinent rank or specialty requirements.

5. Notify Duty Chief and Battalion Chiefs via email of any pertinent staffing

changes throughout the shift to include:

a) Remaining vacancies and personnel eligible for Holdover – daily at 0550

hours.






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b) Remaining vacancies for the next day and personnel eligible for Holdover –

daily by 2200 hours.

6. Identify all scheduled leave and vacancies in Telestaff no later than one (1)

shift prior and backfill as appropriate, according to Attachment A (Filling

Vacancies with Overtime).

7. Backfill unscheduled leave as soon as practical and update Telestaff in

accordance with Attachment A (Filling Vacancies with Overtime).

8. Distributed via email, staffing projections for the next 24-hour shift to

appropriate supervisors, by 0900 hours every morning.

9. Identify persistent vacancies not filled in accordance with Attachment A

(Filling Vacancies with Overtime) and recommend personnel for mandatory

overtime according to Attachment C (Vacancy Projections and Mandatory

Overtime).

10. Maintain the MCR and distribute to “Y-Scale” email distribution list by 0700

hours every morning.

11. Process leave requests according to Attachment B (Processing Leave Requests)

and backfill corresponding vacancies.

12. Adjust personnel’s assignment in Telestaff as auctions and command-directed

transfers occur, to include vacation adjustments and other staffing related

needs, so they are effective the first Sunday of the pay period.

13. Verify that all time and attendance codes are applied and reflect proper coding as

designated by Fiscal Affairs.

14. Serve as a member of the DOC team and complete functions as outlined in

General Order 06-13, Emergency Operations Plan.

B. Assistant Fire Chiefs/Civilian Managers

1. Manage personnel under their command to comply with Department policy

providing for effective staffing and relief, equitable experience, as well as time

and attendance requirements.

2. Management of daily and projected staffing within their area of responsibility.

3. Verify that all time and attendance codes are properly applied to their

personnel.

4. Review personnel transfer requests within their respective command and

forward to appropriate Deputy Fire Chief.

5. Duty Chiefs:

a) Manage staffing for personnel assigned to respective shift within Emergency

Services Command.

b) Manage deployment of extra personnel to stations as directed by Emergency

Services Command Deputy.

c) Shall approve overtime related vacancies to ensure operational readiness.






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6. Risk Manager

a) Manage all personnel in a non-operational status for FMLA, IOJ, or light

duty.

(1) Verify that proper time and attendance are maintained in Telestaff and

that operational status is reflected appropriately.

(2) Verify the proper return to duty of personnel after any period of non-

operational status.

b) Approve/deny pending FMLA and IOJ codes by the end of the pay period.

7. Human Resource Manager

a) Generate profiles for all new employees in Telestaff

b) Management and updates of personnel profile via SharePoint

c) Upon receipt of a status change, update Telestaff with the appropriate

information. This is to include, but be not limited to:

(1) Rank and promotional changes to include actors

(2) Name changes/updates

(3) Specialty changes/updates

(4) Certification changes/updates

(5) Wages

C. Battalion Chiefs

1. Supervise personnel under their command to maintain effective staffing and

relief, equitable experience, as well as time and attendance requirements.

2. Manage respective Station Officer’s deployment of personnel no less than two

(2) shifts in advance.

3. Review/approve all time and attendance codes for personnel under their

command.

a) All timesheet codes, including but not limited to pending codes, swap

codes, etc., must be requested and/or approved in a timely manner in order

for proper staffing projections to occur.

4. Deploy extra personnel under their command to vacant riding positions within

the Battalion, when applicable.

5. Immediately notify Staffing Officer and Duty Chief of any personnel changes

to include illness or injury.

6. Ensure Station Officers promptly notify personnel of any changes to

assignments, details, or holdovers and email Staffing Office with confirmation

when notifications have been made.

D. Station Officers (Officer-in-Charge, i.e. relief, overtime, etc.)

1. Promptly notify personnel of details or changes of assignment to ensure that

all personnel are in the appropriate location at the start of each shift.

2. Deploy personnel under their supervision to an accurate riding position no less

than 0700 hours, two (2) shifts in advance.

a) When assigning personnel, all efforts will be made to ensure fair and

equitable opportunities to enhance professional development.






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b) When necessary for operations or an overall staffing need, the Staffing

Officer may override the assignment and must communicate the change

with the Battalion Chief and Station Officer.

3. Personnel being made available for detail shall be shown in Telestaff with

brackets surrounding their name at the top of the roster under their designated

Station. No extra personnel shall be left pinned at the bottom of the roster.

4. Approve or deny pending time and attendance code requests in Telestaff.

Shift trades shall be approved no later than 0700 hours, four (4) days in

advance, and personnel who are "swapped on" shall be assigned to a qualified

riding position.

5. Verify and approve all incident holdovers prior to finalization of the shift.

6. Immediately notify Battalion Chief of any personnel changes to include illness

or injury.

7. Verify personal contact and specialty information is correct and up-to-date in

the Telestaff profiles of all personnel under their supervision.

E. EMS Development Officer

1. Verify and approve/deny request for FTO pay in accordance with General

Order 05-21, ALS Internship and ALS Field Training Officer (FTO)/Preceptor

Program.

2. Notify Human Resources of all additions and updates relating to Advanced

Life Support (ALS) and Basic Life Support (BLS) internships, preceptor

eligibility, and EMT certifications.

F. All Personnel

1. Verify personal contact and specialty information is correct and up-to-date in

their Telestaff profile. Requests to update profile information should be made

within 48 hours of when a change occurs.

2. Review Telestaff prior to every shift for accuracy and work location/

assignment.

3. Enter time, attendance and payroll codes, in accordance with Attachment D

(Telestaff Training).

4. Notify his/her immediate supervisor of any swaps, incident holdovers, or other

timesheet codes that require approval. Failure to enter swaps or holdovers in

the appropriate time frame may result in their denial.

a) Any timesheet code modification shall be requested prior to the completion

of the applicable shift and emailed to the Staffing Officer via the chain-of-

command. Example – Comp time in lieu of overtime, or comp/personal

leave used in lieu of annual leave.

5. Maintain continued access to and monitor County email, as this is the only

accepted means of making requests for changes to Telestaff.

6. Verify that Telestaff calendar accurately displays worked hours, timeframes,

riding position, and assignment location. This information will report time

and attendance for County payroll.






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7. Adhere to rules and procedures for requesting scheduled or unscheduled leave

as outlined in Attachment B (Processing Leave Requests).

III. Administrative Procedures

A. Profile Specialties

1. Telestaff determines position qualifications based on employee specialties and

disciplines. These specialties are kept current and updated by Human

Resources and the appropriate command Administrative Aide, via the

County’s intranet SharePoint site.

a) Specialties can be added at any time to personnel profile by completing a

SharePoint form on the County intranet and attaching supporting

documentation as needed.

b) Employees updating specialties shall notify their immediate supervisor for

review and approval.

c) The supervisors in charge of the particular specialty/Battalion/Command

will approve or deny the request.

d) All requests for specialty updates will be forwarded up the chain-of-

command for approval.

B. Timesheet Codes by Profile

1. Access to timesheet codes are rank and specialty dependent (i.e. employees

with police powers will have access to police timesheet codes).

2. Generally accessible timesheet codes will include, but are not limited to, the

following:

a) Overtime sign up

b) Holdover

c) Swaps

3. Military Leave

a) Personnel with Military Reservist added to their profile are able to enter

and request military leave, which is approved by their supervisor.

4. Acting pay codes

a) Personnel in acting capacity can add acting pay for overtime, etc.

5. For additional codes see Attachment D (Telestaff Training).

C. Authority by Profile and Rank

1. Each person in Telestaff has a certain level of authority that allows them to

make certain entries or changes in Telestaff.

2. Authority levels range from a basic user to system administrator.

3. See training manual on the I-drive to learn more about rank and position

specific authorities.






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IV. Transfer Procedures

A. Bid Auction Process

1. ESC identifies vacancies within the command.

a) Vacancies will be announced within three (3) complete pay periods of the

vacancy occurring.

2. A Telestaff auction is setup by the Staffing Office.

a) Station auctions are set up to ensure that personnel bidding are qualified to

work the applicable positions. This is based on personnel’s level of

training and profile specialties.

b) Restrictions

(1) Probationary firefighters are not allowed to bid for any new assignment

auction until their Y02 Promotion.

(2) Personnel who have been awarded a position from a bid within the last 12

months are not eligible unless the auction is for a specialty assignment or

an acting role.

3. ESC distributes Transfer Bid Auction Memo.

a) Auction will remain open for five (5) calendar days.

b) Eligible personnel may bid on a position that they are qualified for.

c) In order to qualify for a bid, the employee must be assigned to ESC

effective the date the auction goes live. Personnel who have a change in

duty status back to ESC (from IOJ, LD, FMLA or disciplinary) during the

5-day period the auction is open will not be eligible to bid.

4. Each auction bidder’s list is ranked based on the following order:

a) Time in grade

b) Time in Department

c) Randomly opportunity number

d) Exceptions

(1) Technical Rescue (TR) auctions also take into consideration the amount of

TR training the person has completed. The greater number of specialty

qualifications, the higher the ranking.

(2) Firefighter’s ranking is based on time in Department as first preference.

(3) Technician’s ranking is based on time in grade as a Y-13.

(4) Paramedic’s rank is based on time in grade as a Y-03.

(5) Acting Lieutenant’s rank is based on time in grade as a Y-03, not as

Technician, since there are two (2) positions that can go straight to

Lieutenant (Medic to Lieutenant or Technician to Lieutenant).

(6) Lieutenant and above rank is based on time in grade based on actual

promotion date to respective ranks.

(7) Actors

(a) Employees functioning in an “acting” position at the time an auction

is announced, shall be ranked in the following order:

(i) First Preference - Current promotional list ranked by seniority (if

applicable);






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(ii) Second Preference - Time in Grade at Current Promoted Rank;

(iii)Third Preference - Length of Time in Department;

(iv) Fourth Preference - Randomly Generated opportunity number.

(b) Seeking Actors

(i) First Preference – Employees currently on promotional list

ranked by highest score will be offered opportunity;

(ii) Second Preference – Utilize “seeking actors” list established

through Human Resources.

(a) Human Resources will solicit interest from qualified

employees via email announcement.

(b) Employees who meet all the criteria posted in the most

current edition of the Professional Development and

Promotional Procedures Handbook shall be ranked ahead

of those who do not. If necessary, additional rank order

will be established as defined in section IV.4.(d).7.

(c) Human Resources will provide a list of personnel

compliant with requirements to the ESC no later than five

business days prior to the announcement of the auction.

5. When an auction closes, the Staffing Office reviews the auction for any issues

or inconsistencies. If none are found, the auction is resolved and awarded

under the delegated authority of the ESC Deputy.

a) No bids can be retracted once auction closes.

6. Auction Bid Win

a) Once awarded:

(1) Personnel will be notified through Telestaff messaging system.

(2) ESC completes SharePoint for transfer.

(3) Employee is notified via chain-of-command of auction win.

(4) Staffing Office processes SharePoint.

7. After the person has been awarded an auction win and the proper transfer

process has been completed, the Staffing Officer will ensure:

a) All remaining vacation leave is converted to new shift/station.

(1) Leave conversion will be for same the week, Sunday to Saturday, that the

employee won in the vacation auction.

8. Day-to-day leave will only transfer if employee remains on the same shift.

Otherwise, new leave requests must be submitted based on current assignment.

9. ESC distributes an official transfer memo to Department personnel five (5)

calendar days prior to the effective date of transfer.

10. Staff positions may be held for up to one (1) year.

B. Command-Directed Transfers

1. ESC can make a command-directed transfer based on the operational needs of

the Department. Once approved, ESC will:

a) Notify the employee of a command-directed transfer no later than five (5)

calendar days prior to effective transfer date.






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(1) All personnel who receive a command directed transfer will be

provided written notification as to the reason for the transfer.

b) Complete SharePoint form for transfer.

c) Process SharePoint form via Staffing Office.

d) Distribute an official transfer memo to Department.

2. Assignments from Recruit School.

a) Employees will be command-directed to assignments based on vacancies

and operational needs within ESC. The following process will be utilized:

(1) Employees are transferred from Support Services Command (SSC) to

ESC at completion of Recruit School.

(2) Probationary firefighters are notified of their assignment.

(3) ESC distributes an official transfer memo to Department.

C. Transfer Requests through SharePoint

1. Any employee or supervisor can make a request for transfer to another shift,

station, or command by completing a SharePoint form.

a) Employees completing a transfer request shall notify their supervisor of

request for transfer.

(1) Supervisors must approve or deny requests within SharePoint and notify

the next level in the chain-of-command.

(2) Intra-Station shift transfers are preliminarily approved by the Station

Captain and appropriate Battalion Chiefs.

(3) ESC transfers on the same shift are preliminarily approved by the Duty

Chief.

(4) All other transfers are preliminary approved by the appropriate Assistant

Chiefs/Duty Chiefs.

b) The ESC Deputy Fire Chief has overall authority and must give final

approval for all transfer requests within the Emergency Services

Command.

c) If approved, Staffing makes the changes within the employee’s profile and

Telestaff calendar to reflect the new assignment.

d) If denied, the immediate supervisor will make notification to the employee.

e) Restrictions

(1) Probationary Firefighters are not allowed to submit a transfer request for

any new assignment until their Y02 Promotion.

(2) Personnel who have been awarded a position from a transfer within the

last 12 months are not eligible unless the auction is for a specialty

assignment or an acting role.

f) Command-Directed Transfers will be generated by the ESC Office.

2. All other commands will utilize the appropriate method for filling and

approving transfers for staff and specialized positions as outlines by Human

Resources, and in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

3. All personnel transfers shall be updated in SharePoint along with email

notification to the ESC Administrative Aide.






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4. ESC distributes an official transfer memo to Department personnel.

V. Leave and Vacancies

A. Utilization and processing for leave are outlined in Attachment B (Processing

Leave Requests).

B. Vacancies will be filled in the following order:

1. Detail Personnel

a) All efforts should be made to utilize the person marked for detail by the

Station Officer, unless personnel are required to fulfill a specific specialty

requirement such as apparatus drivers, tiller operators, hazardous materials

technicians, etc.

b) If the process to backfill positions for overtime has been exhausted and

shortages of Advanced Life Support (ALS) providers exist, on-duty cross-

trained personnel may be utilized and their positions will be backfilled as

appropriate. When this occurs, every attempt to find an ALS provider will

continue, allowing for the detailed person to return to their regular duty

assignment if the adjustment allows for proper operational need and

maintains fiscal responsibility. Every attempt will be made to ensure

personnel are detailed in the following manner: cross-trained Firefighters,

cross-trained Technicians, cross-trained Lieutenants, and then cross-trained

Captains.

c) “Suppression-only” Relief Officers should be detailed to officer positions

first. If there are no vacant officer positions, they may be utilized at the

discretion of the Duty Chief.

d) Cross-trained Relief Officers should be detailed to officer positions first.

If there are no vacant officer positions, they may be utilized to staff ALS

transport units, or if no other positions are available, they may be used at

the discretion of the Duty Chief.

2. Overtime

a) Overtime will be filled in accordance with Attachment A (Filling

Vacancies with Overtime).

b) Personnel who elect to work overtime are required to login to Telestaff and

sign up for the desired overtime date and time block.

c) Personnel should strive to enter accurate availability when signing up for

overtime and make timely modifications if availability changes.

d) Under normal circumstances, overtime offers will begin four (4) days out

from the date of the vacancy.

e) Personnel shall log into Telestaff to accept and reject overtime offers.

Once the employee has either accepted or rejected an offer, they must

ensure their action is correctly reflected in Telestaff on their calendar.

There is NO penalty for rejecting offers.






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f) Once personnel have accepted an overtime offer, they are scheduled to

work at the offered location and time. Failure to report when scheduled

may result in appropriate discipline.

3. Mandatory Overtime

a) The Department will utilize holdovers and mandatory callbacks to ensure

minimum staffing requirements are met.

b) This procedure will be effective when all other means of filling vacancies

have been exhausted.

c) Mandatory overtime will be utilized in accordance with Attachment C

(Mandatory Overtime and Callback Procedure).

d) Personnel who are tardy or fail to report after being notified of mandatory

overtime may receive appropriate discipline.

VI. Time and Attendance

A. FLSA Conversion Process

1. At the end of each pay period, Fiscal Affairs calculates applicable sworn

employee’s hours that exceed 106 hours and converts the overtime to either

FLSA Comp time or FLSA Overtime based on how the overtime is currently

listed.

a) Overtime hours in excess of 106 will automatically default to FLSA

overtime unless requested to be converted to Compensatory Leave (“FLSA

Comp”) by employee.

(1) For conversion, an employee must submit a written email request via the

chain-of-command to Staffing. The request shall state the number of

hours the employee wishes to convert from FLSA Overtime to FLSA

Comp time and be submitted by 0900 hours on Sunday following the pay

period ending date.

(2) Adjustment is made in Telestaff and request is submitted to Fiscal Affairs.

(3) Employee receives acknowledgement from staffing.

b) FLSA Comp hours in excess of 106 hours will automatically convert to

FLSA comp.

B. Special Days (Holidays)

1. Holidays are preset in Telestaff in accordance with the Department’s honored

holidays. Each special day is marked with an “S” in Telestaff on the calendar

view.

2. For personnel working the holiday, staffing shall ensure:

a) Conversion of every employee’s straight hours that are working to 035

holiday work hours during the course of the shift.

b) Application of the 061 Overtime Holiday Premium hours at 0200 the

following morning.

c) Conversion of 202 Overtime hours to 029 Double Holiday Overtime

during the course of the shift.






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3. Personnel who have vacation bid leave or day-to-day leave will have their

leave converted to holiday leave during the course of the shift; sick leave will

not be converted.

4. Telestaff automatically adds the comp earned to all employees who are not

scheduled to work on a holiday.

5. Telestaff automatically adds the holiday leave to all day work employees who

are not working on a holiday (i.e. office personnel, day work stations).

C. Shift and Pay Period Finalization

1. Shifts are finalized at 0900 hours each morning for the 24-hour shift the day

prior. These staffing records are auditable for payroll and staffing purposes

and require real time information.

2. All pay periods are finalized at 0900 hours on Monday following the pay

period ending date.

3. Fiscal Affairs will perform an audit of the payroll export from Telestaff prior

to the submission to the County Payroll system, ensuring coding is accurate

and that personnel are receiving proper base wages.

4. Fiscal Affairs will forward all changes or new timesheet coding to the

Telestaff Team for programming adjustments.

VII. Telestaff Training

A. The majority of Telestaff related issues and questions may be resolved by

reviewing the applicable training module.

B. Detailed training modules may be located by following the procedures outlined in

Attachment D (Telestaff Training).

C. An overview of the appropriate method to contact the Staffing Office is available

in Attachment D (Telestaff Training)

REFERENCES

Collective Bargaining Agreement - International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF, Local 1619)

General Order 11-14, Military Leave

General Order 06-13, Emergency Operations Plan

General Order 05-21, ALS Internship and ALS Field Training Officer (FTO)/Preceptor Program.

County Personal Law, Subtitle 16-221

FORMS / ATTACHMENTS

Attachment A – Filling Vacancies with Overtime

Attachment B – Leave Request Procedure

Attachment C – Vacancy Projections and Mandatory Overtime

Attachment D – Telestaff Training


Attachment A

Page 1 of 6

Filling Vacancies with Overtime


A. This attachment outlines the process of filling vacancies with overtime for the Staffing

Office as well as general overtime rules and procedures for all personnel.

B. Filling vacancies with overtime will consist of the following:

1. Overtime Parameters

2. Overtime Preferences

3. Overtime Offers

4. Modifying Overtime

5. Overtime Considerations/Work Rules

II. Overtime Parameters

A. Overtime for Firefighters, Officers, and Battalion Chiefs will be filled as follows:

1. Weekdays will be broken down into 8-hour blocks (0700-1500, 1500-2300, 2300-0700).

2. Weekends and observed holidays will be broken down into 12-hour blocks (0700-1900,

1900-0700).

B. Overtime for ALS positions will be filled in 12-hour blocks (0700-1900, 1900-0700).

C. When units are placed in service outside of the aforementioned shifts (i.e. A858, special

events), the appropriate sign-up time block will be listed in Telestaff.

D. If time blocks are unable to be filled in their original outlined time periods, then other time

blocks may be used to ensure full coverage of the position.

E. To ensure equitable distribution of overtime, the paging order will be facilitated using an

automated system termed “auto hire.” Personnel signed up for overtime shall be offered

positions by the automated system in order of ranking on the pick list. Personnel will only

be offered positions that they are qualified to work and time blocks that they are signed up

for.

F. Fatigue rule – When an employee has worked 36 consecutive hours, they shall be off-duty

for eight (8) hours within the 44-hour time period.

1. This rule may be overridden by the Duty Chief, up to a maximum of 40 straight hours

worked.

2. The County Emergency Operations Plan will temporarily suspend the fatigue rule.

G. When overtime eligibility lists and detail personnel are exhausted, the Staffing Officer may

utilize other functions within Telestaff to send mass messaging regarding the need for

additional overtime personnel.

1. Personnel will receive notification via email, text message or phone call.

2. Mass pages to all personnel offering overtime on a “first come, first served” priority will

occur starting at 0600 hours.


Attachment A

Page 2 of 6

H. During normal operations, Staffing Officers will not send out overtime offers after 2200

hours for vacancies beginning after 1500 hours the following day.

I. Vacancies for the following morning will be offered throughout the night to personnel

signed up on the pick list.

J. The ESC Deputy Fire Chief may alter overtime shifts when it is deemed to be operationally

necessary to fill vacancies.

III. Overtime Preferences

A. Assigned to Station – a preference to rank personnel on the pick list above those not

assigned to their station.

1. The first preference used when filling overtime blocks for the first eight (8), the last

eight (8), and the first twelve (12).

2. The progression when filling a vacancy using this preference is as follows:

a) List all personnel on the pick list qualified to work and assigned to the pertinent

station.

b) Personnel assigned to the pertinent station with the last overtime worked move to

top of the list.

c) When last overtime worked is the same day, personnel with the lowest total

overtime hours worked move to the top of the list. (The system does not take

timeframe into account, i.e., person working the front 8 vs. back 8 are equal.)

d) When total overtime hours worked is the same, then the randomly assigned

opportunity number is used as the tie breaker. The personnel with the lowest

number will receive the overtime offer first.

3. Fatigue rules are taken into consideration at all times. Personnel that are fatigued or that

would become fatigued as a result of the overtime are automatically disqualified.

B. Day Work – a preference to rank day work personnel on the pick list above those on shift

work.

1. The first preference used when filling the overtime block for the middle eight (8).

2. This preference does not apply to personnel scheduled to work a ten (10) hour day,

unless they locate a replacement for their two (2) hour late spot.


a) List all personnel on the pick list qualified to work and assigned to day work. Day

work strategy for Battalion Chief will be filled with a qualified Battalion Chief first.

“Can act as” personnel will be moved to the bottom of the list.

b) Personnel assigned to day work with the last overtime worked move to top of the

list.

c) When last overtime worked is the same day, then personnel with the lowest total

overtime hours worked move to the top of the list.




4. Fatigue rules are taken into consideration at all times. Personnel that are fatigued or that

would become fatigued as a result of the overtime are automatically disqualified.


Attachment A

Page 3 of 6

C. Last Overtime Worked – a preference to rank personnel on the pick list based on how

recently they have worked overtime.

1. Overtime shifts of six (6) hours or greater will be logged and counted towards last

overtime worked.

2. The first preference used when filling the overtime blocks for the last twelve (12).

3. The strategy used to fill all vacancies not filled by station and day work preference.


a) List all personnel on the pick list qualified to work the vacancy.

b) Personnel with the least recently worked overtime will move to the top of the list.

c) When last overtime worked is the same day, then personnel with the lowest total

overtime hours worked move to the top of the list.




5. Total overtime hours and last overtime worked are reset annually at the beginning of the

calendar year.

a) Normal overtime selection strategies are applied as overtime is distributed.

b) The ranking for the pick list is established by random opportunity number.

6. Overtime hours and last overtime worked reset anytime personnel have a profile change

(i.e. promotion, Paramedic Intern to EMT P, EMT P to EMT P PP, etc.).

D. The employee who holds the rank of the position to be filled will receive the offer for

overtime first. After the group of personnel who currently hold the rank of the position to

be filled are exhausted from the pick list, employees who are eligible to “act up” from their

rank, such as Acting Battalion Chief, or “act down” from their rank, such as ALS providers

who are officers, will be eligible to work the overtime.

E. All personnel may view the Telestaff pick list, which is fluid and adjusts as personnel are

awarded overtime. The pick list is only a guide based on last overtime worked and does not

incorporate all preferences or specialties.

IV. Overtime Offers

A. Overtime will be sent to the highest-ranking personnel on the pick list via text message and

email.

B. Personnel will have fifteen (15) minutes to accept or reject overtime that is scheduled

greater than 48 hours in advance. The start time is when the offer is sent, not when it is

received.

C. Personnel will have six (6) minutes to accept or reject overtime that is scheduled within 48

hours prior to the start of the shift. The start time is when the offer is sent, not when it is

received.

D. If the overtime offer is not accepted or rejected during the time limit, it will timeout and

apply a reject offer box (RO) to the personnel’s Telestaff calendar for the day.


Attachment A

Page 4 of 6

E. Personnel that reject overtime will have a reject offer box (RO) applied to their Telestaff

calendar for the day.

F. There is no penalty for receiving a reject offer box (RO). This is just the system

documenting the offer.

G. The Staffing Officer will not accept overtime on behalf of any personnel, except with a

mass page scenario.

H. If an individual misses an offer sent under a 15-minute time limit, it will not be resent until

the pick list for that position/timeframe has exhausted. Offers sent under a 6-minute time

limit can be resent upon request.

I. Personnel may remove an overtime sign up code from their calendar. Declaring accurate

availability for overtime and assisting in an expedient process for accepting/rejecting

overtime will help facilitate the proper relief of on-duty personnel.

V. Modifying Overtime

A. Cancelling Overtime

1. If an overtime shift is cancelled by the Department, all affected personnel will be

notified.

a) Personnel hired for the overtime will be notified by the Staffing Office in writing,

via email and outbound text message.

b) If an employee, not coming from another assignment, arrives at the overtime work

location prior to being notified, they will be offered the opportunity to work a

maximum of four (4) hours as extra at the same work location or another location.

2. Personnel requesting to cancel accepted overtime must send an email as referenced in

“II. Contacting Staffing, D. 2” to the Staffing Office ([email protected]).

As a courtesy, the Staffing Office will attempt to fill an employee’s scheduled overtime

by running the pick list. However, if the vacancy is unable to be backfilled, then the

original scheduled employee will be required to report for and work the overtime shift.

3. Replacement Personnel – An overtime recipient may attempt to find an employee to

work overtime in place of them. If a replacement is found, then the Staffing Officer

should be notified through the chain-of-command, via email. The replacement must

sign up for the overtime and the pick list must run for the vacancy and they will receive

the offer based on their position on the pick list. If this occurs two (2) hours or less

prior to start time, the replacement will be entered into the overtime vacancy.

4. Sick – An overtime recipient may call out the day prior and up to one (1) hour before

the start of their scheduled overtime shift as a result of illness to themselves or a

member of their household. A note from a verified physician may be requested to verify

the illness. If documentation is not provided, then the employee may be subject to

discipline.

mailto:[email protected]


Attachment A

Page 5 of 6

B. Swapping Overtime

1. Personnel may only swap overtime locations within the same timeframes/hour blocks

(0700-1500 for 0700-1500), as long as no personnel on the pick list are bypassed.

Personnel cannot swap overtime locations filled using different strategies/preferences.

2. Personnel requesting to swap overtime within the same timeframes must send an email

to the Staffing Office ([email protected]), and copy their chain-of-

command. All employees involved in the overtime swap should be copied on the email

and express their agreement to the change. If no parties object, the Staffing Officer will

update Telestaff to reflect the change.

VI. Overtime Considerations/Work Rules

A. Fail to Qualify

1. Each position has a structure that defines the specialties.

2. Specialties listed in an individual’s Telestaff profile must match the required specialties

for the specific position in order to be eligible.

3. The most common reason for a failure to qualify is an expired driver’s license or EMT

card. Updated copies/images can be forwarded to the current ESC Deputy

Administrative Aide by email via chain-of-command; Staffing does not enter.

4. Specialties can be updated by submitting supporting documentation through SharePoint.

B. Overtime Restrictions

1. Personnel must be operating in a full-duty status to be eligible for overtime. Personnel

on light duty, FMLA, and IOJ are precluded from working overtime and will not receive

overtime offers.

2. Personnel cannot earn more than one (1) pay code during the same time block.

Therefore, an employee cannot be on a swap or annual leave for their assigned shift and

then work overtime on the shift.

3. Personnel that “Fail to Qualify” because of their profile will not populate on the pick list

and will not receive any overtime offers. This is most commonly caused by out-of-date

driver’s license or EMT certifications.

4. Shift changes will only be processed at the start of a new pay period. In order to equal

80 hours in a pay cycle, personnel must remain on the shift that they started the pay

period on.

a) At the end of the pay period, work hours are automatically exported and sent to

ETS.

b) For shift workers, there is a balancing code auto applied by the system at the end of

each pay period (work no pay for the 96-hour cycle and pay no work for the 72-hour

cycle).

5. Acting Pay – Personnel functioning in an acting rank are required to enter acting pay

overtime code (037) whenever they work overtime.

a) When actors work their regular assigned shift, the acting pay is automatically

applied for the 80 hours at the end of the pay period.



Attachment A

Page 6 of 6

b) When an actor works overtime, they are required to enter their overtime acting pay.

The acting pay must be calculated at time-and-a-half by the person entering the

acting pay (i.e., an Acting Lieutenant works eight (8) hours of overtime; they must

enter time-and-a-half hours, which equates to twelve (12) hours of acting pay

overtime, code 037).

6. Specialties Do Not Match

a) Each person has certain specialties selected in their Telestaff profile resulting from

training certifications, EMS certification level, driver’s license classification, and

apparatus driving status.

b) Each position listed in Telestaff under every station has certain specialties assigned

to it. Examples:

(1) Driver at Company 814 must be able to drive all apparatus at Station 814,

including the tiller truck.

(2) Tiller position at Station 814 must be able to tiller the truck at Station 814 but

does not need to be a driver at Company 814.

(3) Medic provider position on a two (2) person medic unit, must have an EMT-P

assigned to it. This guarantees that two (2) medic interns or EMT-Is are not

assigned to work the unit together.

(4) Officer position requires a Lieutenant or Captain (actors included) to fill this

position at any station. For a specialty station that requires TRT, HMT, etc., the

officer must have these qualifications in their Telestaff profile to be eligible to

work the position.

(5) To work or be offered overtime on a medic unit with an intern, the medic must

be an EMT-P preceptor (PP).

c) Failure to have matching specialties between the position and the personnel could

result in the station being understaffed with the required compliment of training.

This may result in the station or unit being placed Out of Service.


Attachment B

Page 1 of 7

Processing Leave Requests


A. This attachment outlines the process of filling vacancies with overtime for the Staffing

Office as well as general overtime rules and procedures for all personnel.

B. Processing leave requests will consist of the following:

1. Leave Thresholds

2. Leave Timeframes

3. Scheduled Day-to-Day Leave

4. Unscheduled Day-to-Day Leave (Emergency Annual)

5. Scheduled Sick Leave

6. Unscheduled Sick Leave

7. Military Leave

8. Union Leave

9. Civil Leave

10. Bereavement Leave

11. Administrative Leave

12. Shift Exchanges (Swaps)

II. Leave Thresholds

A. A maximum of twelve percent (12%) of the employees within the Emergency Service

Command (ESC) shall be permitted Scheduled Leave each shift.

B. When total leave, to include Annual Leave, Disability Leave, Personal Leave, and Sick

Leave for a shift exceeds twenty-five percent (25%), no additional leave will be approved

until total leave falls below this threshold.

III. Leave Timeframes

A. Leave shall be scheduled in four (4), eight (8), twelve, and twenty-four-hour time blocks.

B. Four (4) hours is the minimum amount of leave that may be requested. This is necessary for

practicality of filling overtime and to comply with the 4-hour overtime requirement.

C. The only acceptable timeframes for leave requests are as follows:

1. 4-hour blocks, from 0700-1100, 1100-1500, 1500-1900, 1900-2300

2. 8-hour blocks, from 0700-1500, 1500-2300, 2300-0700

3. 12-hour blocks from 0700-1900, 1900-0700

4. All 24 hours for time frames starting at 0700

IV. Scheduled Day-to-Day Leave

A. Employees can request day-to-day leave up to 30 days in advance, but no later than 0700

hours four (4) days from requested date.

B. A maximum of 24 hours day-to-day leave may be utilized within a pay period.

C. Employees must ensure they have sufficient leave available to cover their request prior to

submitting. This is to be verified through employee SAP leave balance.

D. Leave requests must contain the following to be considered:


Attachment B

Page 2 of 7

1. Emailed to [email protected] utilizing employee’s own County email

2. Email has immediate supervisor and Battalion Chief cc’d

3. Screenshot from SAP with available leave balance and date within the current pay

period

4. Date requested, type of leave (annual, comp, or personal), and proper timeframe

E. Leave requests that do not contain the above-mentioned information will NOT be

processed.

F. The Staffing Office will log all leave requests chronologically, and approve leave on a first-

come, first-serve basis.

G. The Staffing Officer will reply to the employee, supervisor, and Battalion Chief with either

approved or denied.

H. If approved, the Staffing Officer will input the day-to-day leave request into the employee’s

Telestaff calendar and it will be coded as one of the following:

1. ALA6 – Annual Leave Day-to-Day Request

2. COMPLC3 – Comp Leave Day-to-Day Request

3. PLP3 – Personal Leave Day-to-Day Request

I. All employees that are granted leave should review their Telestaff calendar to ensure

accuracy.

J. Employees should continue to request scheduled sick leave for pre-scheduled doctor’s

appointments and medical procedures through the approved process outlined in section V.

V. Day-to-Day Leave Requests (inside of 4 days)

A. Employees will confirm they have sufficient leave available to cover their request prior to

submitting. Verify through employee SAP.

B. Personnel shall email their immediate supervisor the leave request, to be sent up the chain-

of-command to the Duty Chief. The request will include the following:

1. The date and timeframe of the request

2. The reason for the request

3. Screenshot from SAP with available leave balance and date within the current pay

period

4. Type of leave (annual, comp, or personal)

C. Approval of unscheduled day-to-day leave requests will be at the discretion of the on-duty

Duty Chief.

D. If approved, the Duty Chief will forward the request to the Staffing Office and cc all

applicable personnel.

E. If denied, the employee will be notified through their chain-of-command.

F. If the leave request is approved, the Staffing Officer will add the leave to the calendar of the

employee requesting. All employees that are granted leave should review their Telestaff

calendar to ensure accuracy.



Attachment B

Page 3 of 7

VI. Emergency Annual Leave

A. In time-critical events (short notice), an employee may request Emergency Annual Leave to

deal with an unforeseen emergency. The employee must contact the Staffing Officer, who

will connect them to the on-duty Duty Chief. The Duty Chief will advise the employee if

their request is approved or denied. If approved, the Duty Chief will then notify Staffing to

put the person on Emergency Annual Leave.

VII. Scheduled Sick Leave

A. Employees may request sick leave within 30 days and up to 24 hours prior to the start of

their shift for pre-scheduled doctor’s appointments or medical procedures.

B. Employees will submit their scheduled sick leave request through their chain-of-command.

C. The Battalion Chief will review the request and may require supporting documentation to

verify.

D. If approved, the Battalion Chief will forward the request to the Staffing Office and cc all

applicable personnel.

E. If denied, the employee will be notified through their chain-of-command.

F. If the leave request is approved, the Staffing Officer will add the leave to the calendar of the

employee requesting. All employees that are granted leave should review their Telestaff

calendar to ensure accuracy.

G. Any scheduled sick leave request sent directly to the Staffing Office from the employee

without going through the chain-of-command will not be processed.

H. If the approved request results in meeting one of the parameters for Sick Leave

documentation listed in VIII.H., below, the Staffing Officer will notify the Battalion Chief

via email.

VIII. Unscheduled Sick Leave (call out within 24 hours)

A. Employees requesting to utilize sick leave within 24 hours of their shift must call the Watch

Office at 301-583-2200.

1. Unscheduled sick leave may not be requested via email, even if sent via chain-of-

command.

2. Unless the individual requesting sick leave is physically incapacitated, he/she must

speak with the Staffing Officer directly. Requests from third party callers (i.e., spouses,

parents, friends) will not be considered.

B. Watch Office personnel will take the necessary information to process the employee’s sick

leave request and enter the following into the Unscheduled Leave spreadsheet:

1. Employee’s Name

2. Employee’s Fire Department ID

3. Timeframe of the request

4. Type of Leave (Sick Leave, FMLA Leave, and IOJ Leave); Note - FMLA and IOJ are

entered as pending and approved by Risk management office

5. Reason for Sick Leave (Self, Spouse, Child, Other)

6. Battalion and Station assignment

7. Detailed or not


Attachment B

Page 4 of 7

C. The Watch Office staff member will transfer the call to the Staffing Officer to finish

processing the sick leave request. The Staffing Officer will ask some of the same questions

as the Watch Office.

1. Questions can be asked to determine if the reason for the request is an approved use of

sick leave per County Personnel Law, Subtitle 16, 16-221 (e).

2. In some situations, sick leave will not be appropriate, but the Staffing officer will

provide guidance to the employee on how to proceed.

D. The Staffing Officer will input the sick leave request into the employee’s Telestaff calendar.

E. The Staffing Officer will notify the Battalion Chief if a pattern of sick leave is noticed, i.e.,

every Saturday or alternating sick and annual leave for an extended time.

F. Employee will be required to speak with the applicable Battalion Chief if they are already

on leave or swap for a portion of the shift or if there is a record of previously denied day-to-

day leave.

G. The Staffing Officer will check the employee’s sick leave usage within one year of the

current date requested. (Example: Employee requests sick leave for 9/27/2019. The

Staffing Officer looks for how much sick leave the employee has used from 9/27/2018 –

9/27/2019).

H. Sick leave notes will be required for:

1. Any employee who has greater than 120 hours of sick leave within the past year.

2. Usage of sick/annual/vacation/comp leave the shift before or after.

3. A 24-hour swap or combination of swap/leave that has the employee off for 24 hours

the shift before or after.

4. When the Duty Chief has restricted leave due to call backs in effect.

5. When the station supervisor deems it appropriate.

I. Doctor’s note via the chain-of-command to the appropriate Battalion Chief.

J. If a doctor’s note is required, the Staffing Officer will instruct the Watch Office personnel

to document that on the Unscheduled Leave spreadsheet.

IX. Leave Without Pay

A. Leave Without Pay may only be requested in writing by memo via the chain-of-command

to the Fire Chief. Only the Fire Chief can approve this type of leave.

X. Military Leave USERRA NDMS

A. Employees who are enlisted in the military are required to fill out an Update Specialties

Request through SharePoint to have Military Reservist added to their profile and provide

copies of their Military Enlistment papers or Military Orders.

B. Employees who are enlisted in the military are allowed up to 120 hours of County paid

leave per calendar year (County personnel law) for military service. Any leave utilized over

the 120 hours is processed using employee’s earned personal/comp/annual leave.

C. Employees who are deployed for an extended period of time must submit a copy of their

deployment orders to the Office of the Fire Chief for approval. Once approved by the

Office of the Fire Chief, Human Resources updates the employee’s profile in Telestaff.

D. The employee is responsible for entering the Military Leave onto their Telestaff calendar up

to 120 hours.

1. Employee shall log into Telestaff and select Calendar View.


Attachment B

Page 5 of 7

2. Select the date the Military Leave is requested for, right click and select “Add.”

3. Notify supervisor for approval.

E. After the employee has reached 120 hours, Staffing will enter:

1. Employee must send email request via chain-of-command with copies of orders

attached.

2. In the event physical documentation is not available, an email from the commanding

officer’s official government email will be sufficient.

F. All requests for Military Leave shall be processed in accordance with General Order 11-14,

Military Leave.

XI. Union Leave

A. Union leave requests are sent from an approved union representative to the Office of the

Fire Chief. The Executive Officer for the Fire Chief reviews each request and either

approves or denies the request. All approved Union Leave requests are then forwarded to

the Staffing Officer to enter on the employee’s Telestaff calendar. Each request will be

accompanied with the reason for the request, so it may be properly coded (Business,

Conference, or Convention).

XII. Civil Leave

A. Civil Leave may be requested for the following reasons:

1. Jury Duty

2. For the purpose of Voting, not to exceed two (2) hours

3. Personnel are encouraged to vote absentee or early voting.

B. Employees will submit their Civil Leave request through their chain-of-command. The

Battalion Chief will forward the Civil Leave request to the Staffing Office with a copy of

jury duty summons, if applicable.

C. The Staffing Officer will input the Civil Leave request into the employee’s Telestaff

calendar and it will be coded as the following:

1. CIVIL

2. Civil leave is only granted 0700-1500, but may be extended as the situation dictates.

D. Documentation signed by the Clerk of the Court with the employee’s name, date, arrival

and departure time must be submitted to the Administrative Assistant to the ESC Deputy

and the Staffing Office. If the Clerk of Court has left for the day, then the attorney should

sign the subpoena.

E. Any Civil Leave request sent directly to the Staffing Office from the employee without

going through the chain-of-command will not be accepted.

XIII. Bereavement Leave

A. Employees will submit their Bereavement Leave request through their chain-of-command.

The Battalion Chief will forward the Bereavement Leave request to the Staffing Office.

B. Any Bereavement Leave request sent directly to the Staffing Office from the employee

without going through the chain-of-command will not be accepted.

C. Employees shall be entitled to use accumulated sick leave for the purpose of bereavement

when a death occurs in an employee’s family (i.e., spouse, parent or child). A maximum


Attachment B

Page 6 of 7

amount of sick leave used shall not exceed three (3) eight (8)-hour work days or one (1)

twenty-four (24)-hour shift. The term “family” shall mean and include the employee’s

spouse, child, sister, brother, parent, grandparent, mother- and father-in-law, and aunt or

uncle. Leave needed beyond three (3) days or one (1) shift because of travel distance,

religious requirements or other extenuating circumstances may be extended on a case-by-

case basis by the Fire Chief, but in no instance shall such bereavement/sick leave be

approved beyond seven (7) working days. The first three (3) days or one (1) shift of

bereavement leave taken upon the death of a parent, spouse, or child will be administrative

leave rather than sick leave (24 hours total).

D. The Staffing Officer will input the Bereavement Leave request into the employee’s

Telestaff calendar and it will be coded as the following:

1. BER – Bereavement Leave

E. The Staffing Officer will page out the vacancy according to the appropriate overtime fill

strategy.

XIV. Administrative Leave

A. Administrative Leave requests are only sent from the Executive Officer through the Fire

Chief’s Office.

B. The Staffing Officer will input the Administrative Leave request into the employee’s

Telestaff calendar.

C. The vacancy will automatically populate on the roster for the Staffing Officer to fill using

the correct overtime strategy methods.

XV. Shift Exchanges (Swaps)

A. Personnel may exchange shifts with the approval of their supervisor.

B. Employees may only exchange shifts with personnel who possess the same qualifications

(EMT-P, Driver, etc.).

C. The individual who is swapping off, must enter the swap into their Telestaff calendar and

request approval from their supervisor.

D. Swaps must be entered and approved by 0700 hours, four (4) calendar days prior to the day

scheduled to work the swap. This ensures staffing projections can be completed accurately

the shift before.

1. Failure to have swap request codes approved in Telestaff will show the person swapped

off still working. This may cause the employee to go over the maximum 36-hour

working timeframe.

E. Supervisors must approve or deny all swap requests by 0700, four (4) calendar days prior to

the shift being swapped. When approving swaps, only approve the swap off. The swap on

will automatically be approved.

F. Supervisors must determine if the employee requesting a swap has specialties that will

cause an issue with staffing. If so, the swap should be denied.

G. Supervisors must email the Staffing Office of all denied swaps, so that the request may be

removed from Telestaff.

H. Any Swap not entered or approved by 0700 hours four (4) calendar days prior to the

scheduled swap must be approved by the Duty Chief. The Duty Chief should be

immediately notified of the pending swap via the chain-of-command.


Attachment B

Page 7 of 7

I. Refer to General Order 11-13, Leave Policy, for more detailed shift exchange (swap)

procedures.

J. Personnel who fail to show for a swap on will result in the swap off being charged Sick

Leave.


Page 1 of 4

Attachment C

Vacancy Projections and Mandatory Overtime


A. This attachment outlines the projections and mandatory overtime process for the Staffing

Office.

B. Staffing projections and mandatory overtime procedures will consist of the following:

1. Vacancy Projections

2. Holdovers

3. Mandatory Call Backs

4. Mandatory Call Back Roster (MCR)

5. Special Need Period

II. Vacancy Projections

A. Vacancy Minus Eight (V-8) Days

1. Verify station officers have deployed their personnel

2. Ensure swaps are documented and approved

3. Email Battalion Chiefs for stations that need officer actions

4. Solicit overtime reduction based on deployed positions

B. Vacancy Minus Four (V-4) Days

1. Send out projections/details to AFCs/BCs and Station Officers

2. Lock Out Day-to-Day Leave/Swaps after Projections (Emergency Request will be

approved by the Battalion Chief per General Order 11-13, Leave Policy)

3. Use normal 12-hour and 8-hour periods

a) 8 hours

(1) Monday - Friday (Excluding holidays)

b) 12 hours

(1) Saturday and Sunday

(2) Holidays

(3) ALS Units

(4) Limited Staffing Specialties

4. Run the pick list to fill vacancies

a) Station Preference

b) Day Work Preference

c) Last Overtime Worked Preference

5. If the pick list is exhausted, send out mass page to all personnel on pick list and then to

all qualified personnel

C. Vacancy Minus Three (V-3) Days

1. Run the pick list

2. If the pick list is exhausted send out mass page to pick list

a) First Come – First Served

3. If there is no response, send out mass page to all qualified



Page 2 of 4

Attachment C

D. Vacancy Minus Two (V-2) Days

1. Restrict pre-approved Sick Leave – All email requests approved by Battalion Chief/

documentation required

2. Send out mass page to pick list


3. Send out mass page to all qualified


4. Consider callback and holdover

E. Vacancy Minus One (V-1) Day

1. Restrict Sick Leave – All Calls to the Duty Chief/Mandatory Notes

2. Any vacancy that is within 24 hours will be run using unscheduled strategies (Cycling

every six (6) minutes as opposed to 15 minutes)

3. Consider callback and holdover

F. Day of Vacancy or Unscheduled Leave

1. Restrict Sick Leave – All Calls to the Duty Chief/Mandatory Notes

2. Any vacancy that is within 24 hours will be run using unscheduled strategies (Cycling

every six (6) minutes as opposed to 15 minutes)

3. Any immediate vacancy will be mass paged to the pick list in lieu of running

unscheduled leave strategy

4. Consider call back and holdover

III. Holdovers

A. Personnel will be recommended based on the following criteria:

1. Station with the vacancy

2. Signed up on the pick list

3. Closest station within the Battalion

4. Battalion

5. Next closest Battalion

6. All other Battalions

a) Station with the vacancy – on the pick list

b) Station with the vacancy – not on the pick list

c) Within the Battalion

d) Surrounding Battalion or Station

B. The MCR is not taken into account when selecting holdover personnel. However, holdover

OT over four (4) hours worked will be treated as a callback and count towards your position

on the MCR.

C. Fatigue rules, specialties, rank, and additional variables will factor into the filling of

vacancies and may supersede any of the recommendations outlined. The Staffing Office

will make recommendations based on the Department’s best interest, outlined criteria, and

practicality. The Duty Chief will have full discretion and authority in all mandatory

overtime decisions. In time-critical situations, the Battalion Chief and/or Station Officer


Page 3 of 4

Attachment C

may make holdover decisions, which will be immediately communicated to the Staffing

Officer and Duty Chief.

IV. Mandatory Callbacks

A. Personnel at the top of the MCR will be selected from the opposite shift (working V-2):

1. Unless there is a specialty qualification that must be satisfied, weekdays will be broken

down into eight (8)-hour blocks.

2. Weekends and observed holidays will be broken down into 12-hour blocks.

B. Select from opposite shift (working V-2)

1. Must be qualified for the position

a) Eligible (not exceeding fatigue parameters - 36 consecutive hours or 36 hours within

a 44-hour period without an 8-hour break) to stay the full vacancy block, not to

exceed 12 hours

b) Not on leave the shift prior or shift after the vacancy

c) Not already working scheduled overtime on the vacancy day

d) Not already working a swap on the vacancy day

e) Must be at work the day of the notification

2. List ranked in descending order based on Payroll ID number (highest to lowest)

3. List grouped into:

a) FF – (FF I, FF II, FF Technician)

b) Medics – (FF/Medic III, FF/Medic Technician)

c) Officer – Lieutenants and Captains

d) Battalion Chief

4. EXCLUDE:

a) Personnel who are already on scheduled leave before or after mandatory holdover

(swaps will not be counted unless it falls in between two (2) shifts of scheduled

leave or will result in fatigue)

b) Any Mandatory Call Back Replacement needs to go through the chain-of-command

(documentation will be required to alleviate responsibility for callback)

c) If a replacement is found, it will satisfy the original person to order back

requirements. They will be dropped to the bottom of the list. The replacement will

maintain their current location on the Mandatory Callback list.

d) Personnel selected for Mandatory Callback may be excused only under the

following circumstances:

(1) Verifiable medical condition or situation.

(2) Pre-arranged travel reservations/accommodations as demonstrated by:

i. Proof of payment of hotel or other travel accommodations

ii. Verifiable reservations which must be in the employee’s name and/or their

spouse/partner.

iii. Travel must have been booked at least 96 hours prior to the start of the

mandatory callback shift.

(3) Employees in this scenario will maintain their current rank on the MCR.


Page 4 of 4

Attachment C

C. Relax Fatigue Rules – Employee must send request via email through the chain-of-

command, if willing to work over 36 hours, max to 40 hours. The Duty Chief will approve

or deny this request.

D. Drop Staffing – Duty Chief (while still conforming with CBA Local 1619)

1. Drop staffing at stations with no PA

2. Drop 2-day work from 6 to 4

V. Mandatory Call Back Roster

A. Personnel who work their Mandatory Callback will move to the bottom of the list

B. Personnel who work their Mandatory Callback will not be required to complete another

callback until the list is exhausted or a specialty need.

C. Finding a swap or replacement for a Mandatory Callback will count as having worked a

Mandatory Callback; the person working the overtime will not count. Their overtime will

be coded as regular overtime.

D. Overtime cancelation will no longer be permitted once Mandatory Callbacks have been

initiated. Requests due to extenuating circumstances will be at the discretion of the Duty

Chief.

VI. Special Need Periods

A. Special deployments and special events.

B. Special condition e.g. weather or incidents requiring surge units.

C. When there are specialties involved (Driver, HTM, TRT, etc.).

D. There are limited numbers of qualified people on the pick list.


Page 1 of 3

Attachment D

Telestaff Training

I. County Network “I” Drive

A. Training modules are available with procedures on how to navigate and use Telestaff on the

County Network “I” drive.

B. Personnel must be logged into a work station connected to the County network.

C. To access training folders, complete the following steps:

1. Locate and open the Fire Department “I” drive under Network Location.

2. Locate and open the Telestaff Training folder.

3. The following training will be available for viewing:

a) Telestaff for Beginners

b) Adding Codes to Telestaff

c) Vacation Leave Process

d) Telestaff Transfer Bidding

e) Personal Information Update Instructions

f) How to Deploy Personnel for Officers

g) Approving Pending Codes for Supervisors

h) How to Enter Acting Pay

i) Accessing the Pick List

D. Open and review the training topic related to the Telestaff process in question.

E. The Staffing Office may be emailed, via the chain-of-command, for topics not covered in

the Telestaff Training Folder.

II. Contacting Staffing

A. The Staffing Officer reports directly to the on-duty Duty Chief.

B. All correspondence with the Staffing Office will be directed through the Battalion Chiefs

via email.

C. The appropriate chain-of-command shall be utilized when corresponding with the Staffing

Office.

D. Under the following circumstances, it is acceptable for personnel to email the Staffing

Office directly, while copying the appropriate chain-of-command:

1. Requesting day-to-day leave in compliance with ESC leave policy

2. Requesting cancellation of OT

3. Requesting to switch OT locations (both parties must agree in email)

4. Requesting updates to Telestaff contact information (3rd & 4th contact) and test pages

5. Requests to reset Telestaff password

E. All other requests must be forwarded via chain-of-command

F. The appropriate email for the Staffing Office is [email protected].

G. Individual Staffing Officers should never be sent staffing-related correspondence to their

personal County email.

H. Only County email should be used when contacting the Staffing Office.

I. Non-supervisory personnel shall not call and request to speak with the Staffing Officer

unless ordered to do so by their Battalion Chief or the on-duty Staffing Officer.



Page 2 of 3

Attachment D

III. Telestaff Codes

A. Access to timesheet codes are rank and specialty dependent.

B. Timesheet codes with 001 are specific to regular work hours and are as follows:

1. 000 Investigations Not Working

2. 001 Detail Due to VSU – No longer a relevant code

3. 001 Detailed Regular

4. 001 Investigations Working

5. 001 Office Personnel Detail OT Reduction

6. 001 Straight Pay

7. 001 Swap Off

C. Timesheet codes with 037 pertain to personnel functioning in an Acting Rank and are as

follows:

1. 037 Acting Pay Overtime

2. 037 Acting Pay Overtime Special Events

D. Timesheet codes applicable to Military Reservists are as follows:

1. 013 Military Leave Absence

2. 026 Military Absence using Personal Leave

3. 056 Military Absence using Compensatory Leave

4. 082 Military LWOP

E. Timesheet codes with 055 are applicable for all personnel who have been awarded comp

time. Comp time must be pre-approved by the appropriate Assistant Chief prior to being

entered into Telestaff. Personnel will be instructed of the correct detail code and comp

selection upon approval of comp time. County Comp codes are as follows:

1. 055 County Comp Earned PREMIUM

2. 055 County Comp Earned STRAIGHT ONLY

F. Field Training Officer (FTO) pay is only applicable for County-designated Paramedic

Preceptors who are working with an assigned Intern. This pay must be entered by the

Preceptor and approved by the EMS Development Officer. Staffing Officer will not

add/remove or adjust FTO Pay.

1. 078 FTO Pay

G. Timesheet codes with 202 are applicable to overtime, with the exception of OT Late. They

are as follows:

1. 202 OT FID Incident Holdover – only

2. 202 OT Incident Holdover – to be used when held on a call

3. 202 OT Late – used at day work stations with a 2-hour late spot

4. 202 PAY ADJ OT Incident Holdover – used by BC to enter a holdover

5. 202 TEMS OT Incident Holdover – used by TEMS personnel only


Page 3 of 3

Attachment D

IV. Target Solutions

A. Personnel may access Target Solutions from any internet capable device at the following

web address: https://www.targetsolutions.com/login/.

B. Future Telestaff training will be located under the File Center.

C. Training Updates will be posted as Assignments for all personnel to review and

acknowledge.

https://www.targetsolutions.com/login/

general order 11-27 staffing and telestaff operations 09

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